The Venue

The annual Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue takes place at the Berlin headquarters of the Federal Foreign Office. The building’s unique history serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of international relations. Few structures in Berlin have borne witness to the ups and downs of modern German history to the same degree as this building. Constructed between 1934 and 1940 as an extension to the Reichsbank, the building subsequently served for three decades as the seat of the SED Central Committee and as such the control centre of the GDR. Nevertheless, it was also within these walls that the first freely elected People’s Chamber of the GDR gathered, approving the Treaty on the Establishment of German Unity and allowing Europe to grow together. Each year, the same venue serves as the headquarter of the Global Energiewende, when energy sector stakeholders come together at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue to advance the energy transition.